Photoimageable compositions useful as resists for forming printed circuits, printing plate, solder masks or the like have been used for some time now. The earliest photoresists were solvent-borne and solvent-developable. The development of aqueous-developable resists represented an advance in reducing solvent emissions in the immediate workplace and in the general environment. The continued emphasis in reducing organic solvent both from the workplace and from the general environment has spurred the search for waterborne photoresists which are formulated and applied as aqueous liquids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,435, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes a waterborne photoresist composition which is developable in alkaline aqueous solution. The composition comprises a multifunctional monomer, a photoinitiator and a latex of water-insoluble carboxylated acrylic copolymer. To stabilize the composition and to adjust the viscosity, this patent teaches neutralizing the latex polymer to at least 25% with a base, such as ammonia, another amine, or sodium hydroxide.
To most faithfully reproduce the pattern of artwork with high resolution, contact printing with the artwork (or phototool) laid in direct contact with the photoimageable composition layer is usually required. Contact printing is required to achieve resolution of small (less than 3 mil) circuit geometries. If contact printing is to be used, however, the surface of the photoimageable composition layer must be sufficiently non-tacky so as not to adhere to the artwork. Transfer of even some photoimageable composition may either permanently damage the artwork or require extensive cleaning of the artwork.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a waterborne photoimageable composition which when applied as a layer has a surface which is sufficiently non-tacky for artwork to be placed in direct contact therewith.